https://www.rt.com/usa/495003-jesus-statue-vandalism-attack/
‘We’ve seen this happening all over the country’: Statue of Jesus BEHEADED inside Florida church in alleged hate crime
17 Jul, 2020 01:47 / Updated 12 minutes ago
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FILE PHOTO © Global Look Press/Peter Seyfferth
A statue of Jesus has been left headless in the courtyard of a Catholic church in Kendale Lakes, Florida, after allegedly being vandalized. The Miami Archdiocese says it expects police to pursue the incident as a hate crime.
The statue of Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd had been resting behind the church for decades before meeting its end, allegedly decapitated by vandals overnight into Wednesday.
It’s unclear who was behind the act, with church staff saying they found the statue early on Wednesday morning with its head already separated from its body, lying nearby on the ground.
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Although the church is equipped with security cameras, Deacon Edivaldo da Silva told local media that CCTV footage would hardly be helpful to identify those responsible, as none of the cameras show the damaged statue.
Still, the Archdiocese of Miami believes the circumstances of the case point to foul play, rather than to an unfortunate accident.
“This is not something you can trip over and say, ‘Oh, sorry,’ – Someone did this intentionally,” spokesperson Mary Ross Agosta told local media.
Agosta said that the church sees it as not merely an act of vandalism – which have been on the rise in the wake of the George Floyd protests, seeing activists toppling statues of historical figures across the country – but an “an attack on the church” that should be investigated as a “hate crime.”
The archdiocese noted the suspected hate-fuelled attack on the Jesus statue is not an isolated incident by far, stating that the Catholic church as a whole has faced an avalanche of similar attacks recently.
Miami-Dade police have launched a probe into the incident.
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It’s unclear if the statue-beheading is connected to the spree of vandalism, which has swept the country amidst a spate of Black Lives Matter protests. While initially aimed at monuments to confederate generals and slave owners, the removal crusade quickly escalated, and saw activists cheering the toppling of Christopher Columbus statues and that of former US presidents.
As the onslaught on historical monuments continued, some of the most radical BLM proponents, such as racial activist Shaun King, suggested that activists set eyes on “white Jesus” statues, calling them a manifestation of “white supremacy.”
“Yes, I think the statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down,” King tweeted on Monday. “They are a form of white supremacy. Always have been.”
